A new soldier
by Sankofa
Summary: A crossover between X Files and Dark Angel - What has become of William...


  


First of all, I want to apologize to all readers for my English. I guess there are mistakes in this text and my excuse is that I'm French and I don't use to speak or write in English. Today, I want to have fun and to have your opinion about this short story.   
  
Then, it's been a long time I've been thinking about this and till now, I didn't know how to built it up… But I've had an idea in embryo so I let my imagination run on the paper... Well, on the keyboard!   
  
Disclaimer: I didn't own any right of the « X Files », nor « Dark Angel ».   
  
Résumé: What has become of William…   
  
Please submit a review!

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**Monica**: "I know it's impossible to stop thinking about what he said, about William, but it's all lies, Dana. You were the one who proved it."   
**Dana**: "And how should I prove it now? By insisting that I can protect him? Only to learn too late that I can't…"   
**Monica**: "You say it as if you have a choice…"   
**Dana**: "He didn't have a choice to come into this life. I don't have a choice about what he is or was… But I do have a choice about the life my son will have… And shouldn't I choose that he never have to be afraid of anyone or anything? I mean, can I ever really even promise him that?"   
**Monica**: "But who can?"

William (9x17)

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The child fell asleep as soon as his little head had touched the pillow. His mother stared at him while for a few minutes and a smile lights up her face. Finally, she had a child… Yes, he was the son of another woman… She has had doubts about the legitimacy of this desertion the day she and her husband had sheltered the baby at their house. Nevertheless she can't blame this woman whom can't keep her child for unknown reasons. But, since this day of year 2001, her dearest wish was fulfill and she wanted, more than anything, take care of this little boy as if he was hers.

She left the room, silently, closing the door behind her and rejoin her husband in the lounge. He was still working on the wooden rocking buffalo he had made for his son. Tomorrow, William will celebrate his first birthday…

  
  


It was 5:01am when Rebecca Van de Kamp woke up with a start because of William's cries from the bedroom besides. She sprang to her feet and burst in the room. She even not light up, bend over the little bed and take her son in her arms in order to calm him down and in the same time, she try to find what was causing this cries. When she runs her fingers on his nape, she felt the skin had been lacerated and this caused new cries of the child. Panic-stricken, she called out her husband who comes running.

"Get the car out! We had to take him to the hospital, right now!" She said crying out loud.

She took a blanket, wrapped the little boy up and rushed towards the car. Arrived at the emergency, she was still panicked because William was still crying even if he calmed down a bit. A doctor and two nurses took charge of the child and took him in a ward. Jack and Rebecca sat down on the seats of the waiting room and she poured out her tears of worry on her husband's shoulder.

About twenty minutes later, the doctor came closer.

"How's he?" Rebecca asked, without waiting.

"Follow me, please. Let's go in my office" The doctor replied.

Anxious, they followed him and got in a small room.

"First of all, William's fine. We cured his wounds and right now, he's sleeping. On the other hand, I have to ask you how's this happened?" He asked them.

"Well, I don't know. He… he was fine when… when I put him in bed yesterday evening and at 5:00am, he started crying and then I saw this wound on his nape… I absolutely don't know how he could have hurt himself… Maybe he knocked against the rail of the bed…"

"Was there anyone at your house this night?"

"No."

"Mr. and Mrs. Van de Kamp, I had to point you out that your son's wound have been made by somebody, he can't have hurt himself…" He said, scrutinizing their face.

Rebecca remain passive, but Jack, understanding what this sentence implied, loosed his temper:

"How dare you, just for a second, believe that we may hurt our son?!?!"

"Well, Mr. Van de Kamp, I'm insinuating absolutely nothing, but in these circumstances, we're going to keep him under observation for a day. You can go to see him but may I advise you to get back home and to come back tonight because you can't do anything more."

Bewildered, they got out of the office and went in the room where their son was sleeping soundly, a bandage covering his baby's nape. They stayed beside him during an hour and, actually, get back home.

They had only just come in the house when the phone rang. Rebecca hung up.

"Hello?"

"Don't forewarn anybody or I swear you'll never see him again alive…"

"Excuse me, who are you?"

"If you called the police, you'll sign his death sentence. Have you understand?"

"Wait a minute, you must've dialled a wrong number…"

"No wrong number, no joke. Have you understand?"

"Yes, but…"

The person she was speaking to had already hung up on her. Jack looked at her inquiringly.

"I don't know… A man's voice ordered me not to call the police or he would die…"

"Who's gonna die?"

"I don't know, he didn't say anything else."

The phone rang again. Jack hung up this time. He remains silent during nearly all the time that lasted the call, but his face gave evidence of his sudden despondency. He put down the receiver, took his wife in his arm and he whispered her:

"It was the hospital… William… He vanished… A kidnapping…

Rebecca, stricken with horror, tried to get rid of her husband's embrace but he narrowed his arm around her so that she couldn't struggle.

"What're you doin'?! We had to do something!!!" She screamed.

"Becky" He whispered, fully aware that his throat was squeezing more and more "The call you answered… It was for William. We can't and we mustn't do anything if we want to see him again alive."

"How could you let do such a thing!!!"

"Because I know this would happen someday…"

Rebecca stared at him, her amazement was making her loose all of her mark, and she let herself slide down to the floor. She can't even pronounce a word. Jack crouched and he told her the whole story.

During his military service, he's been recruited by a governmental organization that led secret experiments on human genome. To make sure that the staff would keep silent, the organization threatened to make their close relations vanish in the least violation of the rule. This threat was on each head and it was never fulfill immediately after the mistakes but retrospectively.

Young Jack had never seen any condemnation and he hasn't taken this threat seriously. As he was naturally curious, he couldn't have help making off with DNA sample used in one of the laboratory to make it test. What he had discovered then made him understand why the organization took all these precautions as for staff's silence. Ever since, he knew that he would lose, any time, any place, someone close to him.

"What have you discovered?" Rebecca asked.

"I can't say anything more without risking endanger William's life."

He scrutinized the face of his wife and he saw nothing. Worried, he wanted she told him something, that she reacted.

"Becky?"

Slowly, she looked up toward him and said:

"I'll never, you hear me, ever forgive you for this. Maybe you don't wanna do anything… Not me.

She got up, went in the bedroom, packed a few clothes in a suitcase, got out and, without a glance for Jack, she leave the house.

"I'll find him!" She said before slamming the door.

Jack remains sitting on the floor of the lounge, totally emptied with feelings and unable to apprehend the surrounding world.

  
  


At the other end of the country, a soldier came in front of an officer in civilian clothes, who was sitting behind his desk.

"Colonel, we got subject 711 back. We put him in building 12 with others subjects of the series."

The Colonel averted his attention from his computer screen to put an impassive look on his subordinate.

"Good. I'll see him later. Dismiss."

The private got out of the office and the Colonel sighed. The year he had been looking for this child was actually rewarded. Today, he had found the last subject of the most promising series of the X project. He had a few difficulties because his conception was the result of a mistake. They had implanted genetically modified ovules to his mother but because of an error in the files, she hadn't run the program that was planed for her. She had been quickly sent back home. Her ovules would never have left the base. After the childbirth, he had made follow the baby's tracks and had tried, few times over, to kidnap him but his men had failed each time. Distrusting more and more, his mother had entrusted the child to social services in order that the organization looses its tracks and she had succeeded, until yesterday. He knew the child's distinctive feature wouldn't last to appear so he had tended hospital of the whole country and then, he had found the boy.

He took his look back on the computer screen and opened a folder. He saw a warning window _"You're just log in a governmental program with level 9 restricted access"_. He found the file he was looking for, opened it and he could saw everything about the child:

"**William Van de Kamp**, adopted.   
Date of birth: September the 29th, 2001.   
Place of birth: Democrat Hot Springs, Georgia.   
Sex: Male.   
Blood group: O+   
Hairs' color: Brown.   
Eyes' color: Brown.

Mother: Dana Scully   
Date of birth: February the 23rd, 1964.   
Father:Fox Mulder   
Date of birth: October the 13th, 1961.

Adoption:   
Date of adoption:April the 10th, 2002.   
Adoptive mother:Rebecca Van de Kamp.   
Adoptive father:Jack Van de Kamp."

He selected the file and pressed the _"del."_ key of his keyboard. He saw a new window on his screen _"You're going to delete an official file of the Government of the United States of America. Are you sure you want to continue?"_. Without faltering, he brought the mouse on the _"yes"_ button and clicked. At last, he could rectify the only mistake of his career he had ever made.

He opened another folder and created a new file.

"Farewell William. Welcome X5 711" He whispered with a smile.

He started typing information concerning the new subject of the series.

"Project X, series 5.   
Subject: X5 711   
Barcode number: 332314184711   
Date of birth: Data lost.   
Place of birth: Gillette, Wyoming.   
Hairs' color: Brown.   
Eyes' color: Brown."

He saved the file, switched off his computer and he got up, still smiling. He had brought all the elements together to start this new undertaking and he decides to go and watched the outcome of his work. He got out of the office and he went through the base to reach the building 12. 

He passed the corridor and entered in the second room on the right. Inside, six rows of ten beds with big metallic bars felt into line. In each bed, a baby child, aged between two months old and three years old, was sleeping soundly in white sheets. 

The Colonel got closer to the nearest bed of the door where a child was sleeping flat on his stomach. He held out his hand and he lowered a bit the rompers' collar to have a better look on the mark that was finally became visible. The Colonel Lydecker can perfectly see, on baby's nape, the mark. This barcode that, henceforth, will be the only recognition and identity sign of this soldier. Like each barcode on each child's nape of this building.

The End

Thanks for reading me. And please, if you have a few minutes, send a review!


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